March Review
What's been happening at
Stable Design this month
Even in our peaceful, rural corner of the West Country, there have clear ripples of the awful events happening in Eastern Europe. Our own Creative Director, Sara, has pulled out all the stops to support local businesses with their tremendous fundraising efforts to help Ukraine.
It’s safe to say we are truly out of the first (rather grey) quarter of the year and bouncing into Spring. With the delightful, recent weather, we’ve noticed an optimistic spring in everyone’s step as the year turns towards Summer! So much spring that Sara, Woodey, and James smashed their recent Yeovil Half Marathon. An impressive feat! On the following Monday, there were some seriously tired and sore bodies – even if they pretended otherwise.
Time to put all this fresh energy to good use and get some Spring cleaning done. Here are some simple business tips that will make massive differences in the new financial year.
Wellbeing in Spring 2022
I sit here, with Covid as company, in my kitchen. After eating another round of toast and drinking another sugary Earl Grey, I’m thinking about wellbeing as we head into spring 2022 – Now, I know I am not the poster child for wellbeing but I have been trying a few things to break the “all I do is work” routine of the 2-year pandemic and I have listed these below
Drawing
Our brains release endorphins when we draw, plus we use both sides of our brain – the right for creativity, and the left for logical thinking. This strengthens both and helps develop the ability to focus and think strategically.
I challenged myself to do 100 days of creativity, and the results have surprised me. At first, I was buying all the gear, watching youtube tutorials, spending ages getting myself ready and arranging my space. Now – 66 days in (I haven’t done this consecutively, the extra pressure is just not needed at the moment!) and I am walking with my sketchbook (which has stopped for the next 10 days!), constantly looking for inspiration and ideas. Creativity has become as normal as breathing, and the images, although not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, have my own unique style about them.
Oh – and joy upon joy – my daughter Poppy has turned off the TV/switch/tablet and joined in without even being asked. This challenge has really changed our evening routines for the better.
You can see all my days on our Instagram highlights.
Crafting
A month ago we joined the lovely people at Newcross Farmhouse for a day’s crafting with Amy Rhian – Amy creates the most awesome 3D beetles and bugs and I had the opportunity to watch and create alongside her. With Newcross’s fabulous – 2 for 1 – James came along, and although he initially thought it was metalwork, he was soon grabbing the pritt stick and craft knife.
We were all amazed at how quickly the day disappeared but how relaxed and inspired we all were – in fact, James came home and booked another course – so not only do we have our own unique 3D bugs, we now also have a rather marvellous Terrarium, after his course with Oz at Babylon Terrariums.
They say crafting is like Yoga for the brain – Others have likened crafting to entering a state of “flow,” something positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes as “a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.”
Whatever it does for my brain, I am feeling the benefits across my whole body.
Walking
In such a busy world I need to get up and go – not an easy task when the clocks spring forward in spring hay! But I always feel better for it, and I am very lucky to have a life where I can allow myself that 1 hour walk whilst most of the world sleep.
A good walk can work wonders for your all-over wellbeing. A single walk can benefit your mood and a walking routine can benefit your mind, body and soul. Being active has so many benefits when it comes to wellbeing, in fact staying active can reduce the risk of cognitive decline, improve cognitive function and memory. Walking is low impact fitness (that is unless you are walking with our Mr Blooper) It improves self-perception and confidence, with increased mood and better sleep quality. It can also help reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue.
If you are feeling stuck on a problem, research shows it’s a good idea to get walking – According to a 2014 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning, Memory, and Cognition, going for a walk can spark creativity. “Researchers administered creative-thinking tests to subjects while seated and while walking and found that the walkers thought more creatively than the sitters,” says Dr. Jampolis.
Be Social. Be Secure.
Why? You can reach your fans. You can attract new customers. You can interact with suppliers. You can build your brand’s tone of voice and personality. The list goes on AND IT’S FREE!
However, it’s essential that you protect your company’s brand and reputation from hackers. Most importantly, you need to know how to manage your security and privacy settings. Not only will you ensure any personal information remains inaccessible, but you can also stop your accounts from falling into the wrong hands.
Passwords
A basic (but underrated) step in securing social media accounts is to create a tough password; “password123″ isn’t going to cut it. Choose a strong password – Include numbers, symbols, and capital letters. Make sure it’s not so complicated, otherwise, you could forget it completely.
Avoid using the same password for each account. I know, it’s hard to even attempt to remember something different for all accounts. BUT doing this will dramatically reduce the chance of someone gaining control of your social media.
Update passwords for both your personal and your business social media accounts frequently. You should change your passwords at least once a quarter and whenever an employee leaves the company.
Use two-factor authentication.
If you want to keep your accounts very secure, a simple and straightforward way to do this is to set up two-factor authentication. With 2FA or MFA, you are asked to input a PIN sent to the account owner via an app, SMS, or email. This not only protects you from passwords being stolen but can ensure that whoever oversees the accounts is aware if someone is attempting to log in on new devices.
Some social media accounts automatically require two-factor authentication when you log in with a new device. But, if you want to keep your accounts very secure, set up two-factor authentication whenever someone signs into the account.
To make it easy to log in, many people don’t have their settings require two-factor authentication for social media on mobile devices. Although you may not want to require a password each time you log in, you must have passwords to lock your phone and prevent unauthorized use of social media accounts. Facial recognition and fingerprint scanning are also available to keep mobile devices secure.
Create an email address exclusively for social media management.
This is more directed to business social accounts rather than personal. If a social media account for the company is compromised, the hacker won’t be able to access any other sensitive data.
Another element is if someone leaves a company or were supporting you voluntarily, make sure they aren’t the only admin on the account. If they leave under bad circumstances, they may block you from accessing your account. It happens!
Even if you use the email account exclusively for social media, remember to employ smart internet security practices, such as choosing strong passwords and changing those passwords often.
Spring clean your SEO
With the end of the financial year looming and the arrival of Spring, it’s a great time to take stock of your website and its SEO.
What on Earth is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, it essentially means how well your website ranks on search engines like Google and Bing. Your website could be the most beautiful functional piece of branded art around BUT without SEO, your website is virtually unfindable. Hence why it is so important!
What are your keywords?
These might not always be exactly what you think – The best way to work out keywords is to consider what people would search to find you?
Take for example a recent client, Brown & Forrest Smokery. They produce the finest hot & cold smoked foods in Somerset BUT they want to be found further afield by new online customers. Keywords for them could be: Buy smoked food online | Best smoked salmon delivered | Smoked food gift hampers etc. These keywords will help attract people specifically searching to buy smoked food online.
One thing to note – Good content is not always good SEO and vice versa. These are search terms, which people write quickly. You need to find ways to combine all the different possibilities for keywords and get as many varieties on your site as possible without overegging the pudding.
Where are you?
One of Google’s top searches often includes “near me”. But how do search engines decide what’s nearby? Well, they know where we are but how do they connect that with local businesses?
There are two ways:
1) Include locations in your keywords and get them on your website site. Be both place-specific and more generic, for example; Stable Design – Creative Agency in Martock, Somerset
2) Set up a Google My Business profile. These will show your business on Google searches and maps PLUS you can handily add all your contact details, pictures etc to introduce new customers to your business.
Titles & Meta Descriptions
Here we go a bit more technical, each website page has a title and meta descriptions. Though esoteric industry terms, you’ve seen these anytime you’ve searched online. Title and Meta Descriptions are the small bits of text that comes up on search engines and they are editable! Fill yours with keywords to help people find you AND decide to click on your link.
Write Blogs!
By keeping your website updated with new content, your website will consistently start to rank higher. This could be news updates about your business or industry tips. Now Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just keep consistently posting fresh content onto your website, share to social media platforms and you’ll (slowly) start seeing the results. PRO TIP: Make these blogs specifically about keyword search terms.
Check your analytics
Now take a look at your website’s analytics – This is where you will see results. Check out your Google Analytics or (if you have a platform that does) internal analytics, just have a cheeky look in there. Are you getting more traffic from new customers? Then congratulations – Your SEO is working.
Still feeling bamboozled by SEO? Get in touch! All our websites come with SEO and we often run audits on other sites.
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